Why Small Tools Can Become Big Wins: Stories of Makers Who Proved It
The most successful indie makers aren't building complex platforms. They're building simple tools that solve one problem exceptionally well. Here are the real stories behind the wins.
The Small Tool Advantage
There's a counterintuitive truth in the world of indie making: smaller tools often make more money than complex platforms. While venture-backed startups raise millions to build everything for everyone, solo makers are quietly building simple, focused tools that generate six and seven-figure revenues.
Why? Because small tools are faster to build, easier to market, cheaper to maintain, and often solve problems better than bloated alternatives. Let's look at the real stories of makers who proved this.
Success Story #1: Pieter Levels – $3M/Year From a Laptop
The Tools
Pieter Levels runs multiple simple tools from his laptop with zero employees:
- Nomad List: A database of cities ranked for digital nomads
- Remote OK: A remote job board
- PhotoAI: AI-generated photos and avatars
The Revenue
- Nomad List: $1.5M+ annually
- Remote OK: $2M+ annually
- PhotoAI: $132K monthly ($1.5M+ annually)
- Combined: Over $3 million per year
Why It Works
Each tool does one thing extremely well. Nomad List doesn't try to be a travel booking platform or social network. It simply ranks cities for remote workers based on clear criteria. Remote OK doesn't build applicant tracking systems or recruitment tools. It lists remote jobs. Simple.
The Small Tool Lesson
"Do one thing extremely well, and people will pay for it." Pieter's tools aren't the most feature-rich, but they solve specific problems better than alternatives. That focused value is what users pay for.
The Journey
Pieter famously challenged himself to launch 12 startups in 12 months. Most failed. But the few that succeeded—by focusing on simple, valuable solutions—now generate millions. His story proves that you don't need a massive product on your first try. Launch small, see what works, and double down.
Success Story #2: GMass – $200K+ Monthly Revenue
The Tool
GMass is a Chrome extension that turns Gmail into a powerful email marketing platform. It allows users to:
- Send mass emails directly from Gmail
- Personalize campaigns with mail merge
- Track opens and clicks
- Schedule campaigns
- Automate follow-ups
The Revenue
GMass generates over $200,000 per month with more than 500,000 user signups. Major companies like Uber, LinkedIn, and Google use GMass for their email campaigns.
Why It Works
Instead of building a standalone email marketing platform to compete with Mailchimp or Constant Contact, GMass leveraged what users already know and love: Gmail. By making Gmail more powerful rather than replacing it, GMass removed the friction of learning a new tool.
The Small Tool Lesson
"Enhance what people already use rather than forcing them to switch." GMass didn't try to replace Gmail. It made Gmail better. This strategy dramatically reduces user resistance and speeds up adoption.
Success Story #3: Storemapper – Built on a Pattern
The Tool
Storemapper is a simple plugin that adds store location maps to eCommerce websites. That's it. One feature, executed perfectly.
The Origin Story
Tyler Tringas founded Storemapper in 2012 while working as a freelancer for eCommerce companies. He noticed a pattern: nearly every client needed a store locator map, but no good "plug-and-play" solution existed. Instead of building custom solutions for each client, he built one tool that solved the problem once.
Why It Works
Storemapper succeeded because Tyler identified a widespread problem with no great solution. He didn't need to create demand—it already existed. He just needed to build the best version of the solution.
The Small Tool Lesson
"Find a problem you keep seeing repeatedly, then solve it once." If you're doing the same thing for multiple clients or projects, there's probably a tool opportunity hiding there.
Success Story #4: Excel Formula Bot – $14K MRR From a Side Project
The Tool
Excel Formula Bot uses AI to generate Excel formulas from plain English descriptions. Users type what they want to do, and the tool creates the formula.
The Revenue
David Bressler launched Excel Formula Bot during paternity leave in September 2022. It now generates over $14,000 in monthly recurring revenue.
Why It Works
Excel formulas are notoriously complex and hard to remember. Millions of people use Excel daily but struggle with formulas. David's tool removes that friction completely. You don't need to remember syntax—just describe what you want.
The Marketing
David gained traction through:
- Reddit: Shared in Excel and productivity subreddits
- TikTok: Short demos showing the tool in action
- Instagram: Visual before/after examples
- Twitter: Engaging with the productivity community
The Small Tool Lesson
"Solve a painful problem for a huge existing market." Excel has hundreds of millions of users. David didn't need to create a new market—he just needed to solve a common pain point for people already using Excel daily.
Success Story #5: MySignature/Newoldstamp – $700K Annually
The Tool
MySignature creates professional email signatures for companies. It handles:
- Designing branded email signatures
- Managing signatures across teams
- Ensuring brand consistency
- Deploying signatures to all employees
The Origin Story
Vol (the founder) noticed that companies were manually creating email signatures for each employee—a time-consuming, error-prone process. He quit his job with just $10,000 in savings to launch Newoldstamp in 2015.
The Revenue
After later acquiring MySignature, the combined tool now has over 500,000 users and generates nearly $700,000 annually.
Why It Works
Email signatures seem trivial, but for companies with 50+ employees, managing them manually is a nightmare. MySignature solves a small but real operational pain point that businesses are happy to pay to eliminate.
The Small Tool Lesson
"Small problems in businesses = recurring revenue." Companies don't want to think about email signatures. They'll happily pay a subscription to make the problem disappear forever.
Success Story #6: Clickpilot – $1,600 MRR, $100/Month to Run
The Tool
Clickpilot is a micro-app for YouTube creators that allows users to preview and compare video thumbnails before publishing.
The Revenue
Clickpilot reached $1,600 in monthly recurring revenue in just five months while costing only $100 per month to operate. That's a 16x return on operating costs.
Why It Works
YouTube thumbnails significantly impact click-through rates, but creators have no easy way to compare options before publishing. Clickpilot solves this one problem perfectly. It's not trying to be a full video editing suite or analytics platform—just a thumbnail comparison tool.
The Small Tool Lesson
"Micro-tools can be incredibly profitable with minimal overhead." You don't need massive scale to make meaningful income. $1,600 MRR at 90%+ profit margin is a great side income or foundation for a full-time indie business.
Success Story #7: Morningscore – $40K MRR Without VC Funding
The Tool
Morningscore is an SEO tool with gamification elements. It makes SEO fun and accessible by presenting data as a game with points, levels, and missions.
The Revenue
Morningscore grew to 600+ customers with $40,000 in monthly recurring revenue in just 3 years without venture capital funding. They achieved 300% year-over-year revenue growth.
Why It Works
The SEO tool market is crowded with complex, expensive platforms like Ahrefs and SEMrush. Morningscore differentiated by making SEO approachable for small businesses through gamification. Instead of competing on features, they competed on user experience.
The Small Tool Lesson
"Find a crowded market and compete on simplicity, not features." Morningscore didn't try to out-feature the giants. They made SEO fun and simple for people intimidated by complex tools.
Why Small Tools Win: The Core Advantages
1. Faster to Build and Launch
Complex platforms take months or years to build. Small tools can launch in weeks or even days. Danny Postma built HeadshotPro in 30 days. David Bressler launched Excel Formula Bot as a side project during paternity leave. Speed to market matters.
2. Easier to Explain and Market
Try explaining a complex platform in one sentence. Now try explaining GMass: "Send mass emails from Gmail." Simple tools have clear value propositions that require no explanation. This makes marketing infinitely easier.
3. Lower Development and Maintenance Costs
Clickpilot costs $100/month to run and generates $1,600 MRR. That's 93.75% profit margin. Complex platforms have massive infrastructure costs, expensive engineering teams, and constant maintenance. Small tools can run profitably on autopilot.
4. Less Competition
VCs fund "big vision" companies. They don't fund niche tools for email signatures or thumbnail comparisons. This means small, focused tools often face less competition because they're "too small" for venture-backed companies to care about.
5. Better Product-Market Fit
When you solve one problem extremely well, users love you. When you try to solve everything, users are lukewarm. Small tools can achieve exceptional product-market fit because they're laser-focused on a specific pain point.
6. Easier to Iterate and Improve
With a small codebase and focused feature set, you can ship improvements fast. User feedback is easier to incorporate. Bugs are easier to fix. You can stay agile and responsive to user needs.
How to Find Your Small Tool Opportunity
Look for Patterns in Your Own Work
Tyler Tringas built Storemapper because he kept building store locators for clients. What do you find yourself doing repeatedly? That's your opportunity.
Identify Friction in Existing Tools
David Bressler noticed people struggled with Excel formulas. What tools do you use that are more complicated than they need to be? Can you simplify one aspect?
Find Problems People Already Pay to Solve
Vol noticed companies manually creating email signatures—a time-consuming task they'd happily outsource. What tedious tasks do businesses already pay people to do? Can you automate it?
Enhance Existing Popular Tools
GMass didn't replace Gmail; it made it more powerful. What widely-used tool could be enhanced with one additional feature? Browser extensions and plugins are perfect for this strategy.
Solve Your Own Problem
Many successful small tools started as solutions to the founder's personal pain point. If you're frustrated by something, chances are thousands of others are too. Build the tool you wish existed.
Small Tool Validation Checklist
Before building your small tool, validate these criteria:
- âś“Specific problem: Can you describe the problem in one sentence?
- âś“Existing market: Are people already trying to solve this problem?
- âś“Willing to pay: Do people currently pay for solutions (even imperfect ones)?
- âś“Buildable quickly: Can you launch an MVP in 30 days or less?
- âś“Easy to explain: Can potential users understand the value immediately?
- âś“Recurring pain: Is this a one-time need or ongoing problem?
- âś“Reachable audience: Do you know where your target users hang out online?
Common Mistakes When Building Small Tools
1. Feature Creep
The biggest danger to small tools is growing them into complex platforms. Resist the urge to add "just one more feature." Stay focused on doing one thing exceptionally well.
2. Underpricing
Many makers price small tools too cheaply because they seem "simple." But simple tools that solve real problems are valuable. GMass charges $25-125/month. MySignature charges for team plans. Don't apologize for charging what you're worth.
3. Ignoring Marketing
"If I build it, they will come" is a myth. Even the best small tool needs active marketing. David Bressler promoted Excel Formula Bot on Reddit, TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter. You need to do the same.
4. Trying to Serve Everyone
The power of small tools comes from specificity. Don't dilute your focus by trying to serve too many audiences. Pick one target user and serve them exceptionally well. You can always expand later.
The Future of Small Tools
AI Makes Small Tools Easier to Build
Tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and GitHub Copilot dramatically accelerate development. Solo makers can now build tools that would have required entire teams just a few years ago. This levels the playing field and opens more opportunities for small, focused tools.
No-Code Platforms Lower the Barrier
You no longer need to be an expert developer to build profitable tools. Platforms like Bubble, Webflow, and Zapier allow non-technical founders to create functional tools quickly.
Niche Markets Are Growing
As the internet grows, niche markets get bigger. A "small" tool serving 1% of a market can still have millions of potential users. The opportunities for focused tools are expanding, not shrinking.
Conclusion: Think Small to Win Big
The stories of Pieter Levels, GMass, Excel Formula Bot, and dozens of other successful small tools prove a powerful truth: you don't need to build the next Facebook or Uber to create a successful, profitable business.
In fact, you're more likely to succeed by thinking smaller. Build a tool that solves one specific problem extremely well. Launch it quickly. Market it actively. Iterate based on feedback. And resist the urge to add unnecessary complexity.
The next big win might just be a small tool.
ColorSnap: A Small Tool Solving a Real Problem
ColorSnap follows the small tool philosophy: extract colors from images and get CSS-ready codes. One focused feature, executed well. Simple, fast, and free.
Try ColorSnap Free